Facebook’s recent purge of clickbait and the reprioritizing of deep content and posts by friends could make quality content relevant on the platform once more.

Facebook is forcing people to create quality and relevant content. The social media giant recently unveiled its biggest news feed algorithm change to date; it now favors content from friends and family over posts from companies and politicized material. So where does this leave advertisers?

Facebook has said that the new changes will not affect paid posts on the platform, although CPM (cost per 1000 impressions) may increase. The changes are aimed at removing clickbait; those annoying shouty adds that use either controversial titles or make ridiculous claims as to the product’s benefits. They have long frustrated users, often appearing higher in the news feed than posts from friends or loved ones. Facebook won’t admit it publically, but it’s an effort to stem people moving away from the site, which some see as now being an endlessly repetitive space for dreary pointlessness, and so don’t bother to look at it.

Brands already know that they get little visibility from unpaid content on Facebook. Organic content doesn’t work as well as paid posts for sure. However the new move may make some headway into leaning back into these two truisms. Brands will probably have to abandon push marketing and create content that potential customers value or wish to see.

There is a lot of concern in the online space with marketers globally surrounding this issue. Many are preparing to advise clients to move part of their tactical spend to Instagram, Snapchat or other channels. This is interesting as it may turn out to create the exact result that Facebook didn’t want, and so the situation will continue to evolve.

We would say that there is no cause for panic. The correct content (now able to be deeper, of better quality and therefore better able to connect to consumers in our clients’ target markets) and correctly targeted will continue to drive success for brand building and sales growth on the FB channel.

Please speak to us for free advice or to request a project-specific consultation.

Vivaldi CEO competes in the largest race in Southeast Asia, to finally claim first prize

DESPITE its awful past, the infamous River Kwai’s ‘death’ railway built by WWII prisoners is an ideal location for the River Kwai Trophy Adventure Race, the largest race in Southeast Asia.

Vivaldi CEO was not always into endurance sports, but after becoming overweight and unhealthy he decided to get fit and enter the race for the first time. That was 11 years ago. It was the toughest thing he’d ever done, but was hooked from then on.

In 2015, his friend Ross Cain and he decided to team up under the name “Atlast” with the purpose of winning the Grand Masters of the River Kwai Race. He was super-fit, coming off cycling the 1200 km Audax France in under 70 hours. They trained hard in the midday sun for five hours at a time, so by race day were in top shape. Despite a serious cycling crash in which Ross cracked his elbow and Joseph had a concussion, they came in 3rd place.

In 2016, they tried again, leading the race for five hours until Joseph’s legs cramped in the final river swim just a few hundred meters from the finish line. It hurt to lose like that.

At the registration for 2017, they saw teams entering from Thailand, Hong Kong, Malaysia and France. That night, a huge tropical storm rolled in. In an adventure race, you don’t know distances, routes or order of the swim, bike, kayak, obstacles or trails. You just deal with it as it comes. In this year’s race, they started with a run that crossed the Bridge over the River Kwai to the main plaza where tourists looked on.

When the MC finally announced at the finish, “Team Atlast has finished in 1st place in the Grand Masters Division”, hands rose in the air and both team members shouted at the top of their lungs! It has been 11 years in the making and finally a first ever win. The team had conquered Asia’s Largest Race at the Bridge over the River Kwai!

The global PR landscape is going through quite an aggressive restructure at the moment, with escalating levels of competition, price wars, and shorter term retainers becoming the norm. However, agencies focused on quality and value still are proving to be important partners for clients. Smaller agencies in particular are able to offer detailed and highly tailored assistance to clients through thick and thin, as they grow together in partnership.

1.) Word of mouth

The most successful agencies are the ones who have long been known for producing a good standard of work over many years. In fact a lot of agency business comes via this method instead of through SEO or digital marketing. This is also the most credible basis for making decisions on which PR firm to use.

2.) Get to know the team

Ask to see the Account Director and the Account Managers who will be looking after you. It is great to meet the CEO in the meeting pitch, but he or she is unlikely to be dealing with the account on a regular basis. If you want digital services adding to the package, meet that team also.

3.) Visit their office

Visiting their premises after the first initial meeting at your own HQ will give you an indication of the scale of the business, and the sort of work it is able to do. If the agency claims to be creative but the office environment is sterile, they may be better suited to writing FS press releases.

4.) Awards are good, but look for case studies

There are a lot of regional and industry awards in the PR industry calendar, and some are no more than money-making rackets for the award organizers. Check thoroughly on the PR company website for actual concluded projects and the results they achieved with them. Real life tangible successful projects are much more valuable than a slew of awards you’ve never heard of.

5.) Results and clarity

You must clearly define goals at the beginning of the relationship. This may be based on daily and monthly KPI targets; it may be more transgressive (in a positive way,) less objective or less conventional, such as in the case of your own business visibility performance being tied to the PR agency’s channel efforts. This is a new approach which is now becoming effective due to increasingly sophisticated metrics and AI technology.

Word of mouth has always been the cheapest and most reliable way of picking up new customer accounts or client contracts dollar for dollar. Having a loyal brand fan sell on your behalf, simply because they like your service, also provides you with the perfect channel to market free of marketing costs and delivered via a credible, third-party non-affiliate. What’s not to like?

Here are some leverage tips:

1. Keep up with the Comms commitment and stay vocal

Whilst you can get referrals once in a while when a friend asks a friend if they know anyone who proves a certain service, remaining bright, at the forefront and with top-of-mind recall is the best way to replicate this success over and over. On social media, be chatty and interactive instead of just pushing business messages out against a communications plan. Be real, and be active.

2. Offer rewards to your brand fans

Reward your regular customers, and go the extra mile to reward those who are serving as unpaid ambassadors on your behalf. They are much more likely to expand their efforts if they know those efforts are appreciated by you, and at least in some way rewarded. Develop an incentive plan to convert more customers into “pushers”.

4. Listen to criticisms and fix issues

No matter how well you conduct business there will always be the odd unforeseen problem, perhaps with the performance of a product or an unsatisfactory service request reply. You can switch round negative situations by showing that the criticism is valued by you and that you are able and willing to make the customer happy, even in somewhat stressful circumstances. This is a great way to convert dissenters into reps.

5. Be approachable, and value feedback

Learn what your customers most value and most want. Work hard to develop solutions that show you are working behind the scenes on addressing customer concerns and needs, because you like to as well as because you need to.

6. The customer is (nearly) always correct

It’s a bit of a cliché but customer service is paramount – even when serving those obnoxious, unforgiving or extremely unreasonable clients. Even the toughest customers can see that your efforts over time are worth rewarding with good word of mouth and ambassadorial loyalty.

Call or email us if you want to know more about working at Vivaldi PR : Contact Us

When you’re just setting out there with an entrepreneurial idea and limited budgets, you have a lot to handle just getting the project or platform ready, never mind choosing marketing channels or putting together an effective PR strategy. There are a few simple tips however that will help your startup attract potential online exposure, at least in a small way that will set the stage for your project growth. You don’t need to invest hundreds of hours in learning all about PR; just a few simple takeaways.

1.) Key messages are the most important thing

Key messages are the statements about your product or service that are arranged in an easy to understand fashion that quickly communicates what you are all about. If you’re not sure how to compose a key message, imagine someone asks you this question: “If you would like the world to know only one thing about your company or product, what would it be?” Whatever you answer will be your key message, or another way to understand it would be as the headline of your first press release

2.) You can use more than one key message

Usually you will have one overarching key message, which functions as your overall communication summary. However, you can use additional important messages (called sub-messages) which also convey other important information about your startup. Imagine that the key message is the headline to your press release and the 2-3 sub messages are the bullet points arranged just below your headline message.

3.) DIY PR is perfectly okay at the outset

Social media has made everyone their own publicist, so where in the past you would have had to pay a lot of money for advertising or magazine advertorials, now this buzz can spread for free over your social channels (if your messages are on point and people find them interesting).

4.) Content is important for everything

At the beginning when cash is tight, you are going to be writing everything yourself, and that’s perfectly fine. All of the content you put on your website should support your key messages, so keep information short and sweet and make sure everything points back to your overall communication direction, which is your key message. The content will flow easily then and people will not be overwhelmed (hence bored) with pages of text.

5.) Outsource your editing or proofing to cheap freelancers

It’s always helpful to have someone else review and make slight changes to your content, as they will probably see errors to which you are oblivious. Sites like fiverr give you the option of getting semi-pro writers to look over your stuff and suggest ways it can be improved in terms of general positioning of your content and messaging.

6.) When you’re ready to up your game and grow your business

Public Relations does one thing, and that is to amplify the message. When you’re at a point when there is some interest in your startup and you really need to launch properly, this is the perfect time to engage with a PR firm.

Call or email us if you want to know more about working at Vivaldi PR : Contact Us

Vivaldi has introduced a range of new services to harness opportunities for growth. The company has also invested in a new and much larger office facility. Following 12 years of consistent growth, successes across a whole spectrum of client industries and several regional award wins, the company is confident that it can accelerate its growth by responding to shifting trends in the media, marketing and PR landscapes in Thailand.

Vivaldi has been named as Thailand’s top PR agency in the area of sports by the Asia 2016 Sports Industry Awards. The company won the award for its work in Thailand, having delivered superb communication results for major sporting events such as the Phuket King’s Cup Regatta (agency of record for 11 years), and The Music RunTM (reappointed for the 3rd consecutive year).

Businesses that shun the frivolity of Facebook for B2B marketing could be losing out on influencing profitable business decisions. The latest findings of a recent survey report suggest companies that make assumptions about Facebook’s B2B marketing power are off point and inaccurate about how purchasing decisions are actually made in the real corporate world.

Think before you Tweet is the message behind the latest amendments to the Copyright Act in Thailand. In light of the growing popularity of social media sharing, the new laws have replaced ones that have been in place for 21 years.